After the opening frame Kershaw settled down, with 45 pitches over his next three innings, but allowed single runs in the third and fourth innings. That included a solo home run by Taylor Ward in the third inning.
Kershaw struck out two in the first inning and none after that, ending his night with more walks (three) than strikeouts and five runs against him.
“With the slider, there were a lot of fouls instead of swing and miss,” Kershaw said after throwing 32 sliders, inducing 18 swings, six whiffs, six fouls, and six balls in play. “That has to be my out pitch.”
Andy Pages helped the Dodgers keep pace with a three-run home run in the bottom of the first inning, his third home run in his last four games.
Pages also made a tremendous running catch while crashing into the short wall in right field in the fifth inning. Though the out ended up a sacrifice fly and the Angels’ fifth run, Pages actually saved a run as Kevin Newman was stranded at second base in that inning. Pages was holding his side after the play and went down the dugout tunnel after the inning, but remained in the game.
Freddie Freeman had his second four-hit game in seven days.
Kiké Hernández reached base five times for just the second time in his career, including a fourth-inning home run that brought the Dodgers to within one. He also had a single and three walks. Hernández’s other time reaching base five times was in Game 2 of the 2021 ALDS with Boston.
After a pair of walks to open the sixth inning, Dalton Rushing’s RBI double tied the score for his first major league extra-base hit and RBI. He added a single in the seventh inning for his second RBI to pull the Dodgers to within two.
The Dodgers had two outs and nobody on in the eighth inning before three hits and a walk to score a run off Ryan Zefferjahn. But old friend Kenley Jansen came in with the bases loaded and got Michael Conforto to ground out to keep the Angels ahead by a run.
But Matthew Lugo answered right back with a solo home run off Alex Vesia in the ninth to give the Angels extra cushion, up by two.
Jansen allowed a single to Will Smith in the ninth but otherwise escaped unscathed, earning his first four-out save of the season.
“I give credit to our offense to continue to fight and make it a game,” Roberts said, “but unfortunately we just couldn’t make enough pitches.”
Saturday particulars
Home runs: Andy Pages (9), Kiké Hernández (7); Taylor Ward (11), Logan O’Hoppe (10), Matthew Lugo (3)
WP — Reid Detmers (1-2): 2 IP, 3 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts
LP — Kirby Yates (3-2): ⅓ IP, 3 hits, 3 runs, 1 walk
Sv — Kenley Jansen (8): 1⅓ IP, 1 hit
Up next
Tony Gonsolin is on the mound in the series finale on Sunday (1:10 p.m.; SportsNet LA, FanDuel Sports Network West, KCOP 13), with southpaw Yusei Kikuchi starting for the Halos.
